Louisiana Oil & Gas Association – Don Briggs, President -

Nearly every day, there are 143 million cars and 110 million trucks on the highways of the United States. It is this immense transportation network that provides our over 300 million citizens with the American way of life. We have the luxury of commuting to work, traveling cross-country and the ease of delivering goods and services, all of which comes with a cost……..oil.

Everyday the U.S. consumes 25% of the world’s daily crude oil production, providing the fuel to power 96% of the country’s transportation infrastructure. Our country consumes, in round numbers, 20 million barrels of oil per day, while producing only 5 million, making up the balance mostly by imports and refinery gains.

By importing nearly 70% of our oil demand, hundreds of billions of dollars every year go into the coffers of countries that dislike the United States. Why is there not a plan to even contain our ever-growing dependence on these countries?

President Obama said in his inaugural address, “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” Washington needs to stop insulting the intelligence of the American people. The development and research into new sources of energy is important, however, when we are so vulnerable as to import 70% of the energy that powers 96% of our transportation, we should be incentivizing the exploration and development of our natural resources.

The United States is the only country in the world that has more than 85% if its natural resources off limits for exploration and development. This past week Russia inked a contract with Cuba to drill off Florida’s coast, an area that is off limits for U.S. companies to drill. China and India have also leased concessions from Cuba. “This is the irony of ironies,” complained Charles Drevna, executive vice president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. “We have chosen to lock up our resources and stand by to be spectators while these two come in and benefit from things right in our own backyard.”

Opposition to drilling off Florida’s coast is weakening as Florida’s Legislature is looking for revenues to offset budget deficits. “Our national enemies, who have sworn to destroy the United States and everything we stand for, uses our reliance on foreign oil as a tool to arm themselves and to disarm us and to cripple us,” said Cannon, a Winter Park Republican slated to become speaker in 2010.

The environmentalists argue drilling off Florida’s coast will spoil the beaches, however, the fact is more oil bubbles up naturally from the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico than will ever come from drilling operations.

The Obama administration has no plan that provides energy security to the transportation network so vital to our country; in fact it is quite the opposite. President Obama’s budget, if passed by Congress, will strip the independent oil and natural gas producers of their incentives to explore.

What would a good plan look like?

· Lift the moratoriums on areas off limits for exploration and development

· Incentivizes companies to explore and develop our natural resources

· Incentivize the development of a natural gas infrastructure to fuel our country’s transportation network

It’s called, free enterprise.